Loki (comics)
Loki was a prince of Asgard and the God of Mischief. He was Thor's adopted brother and the first enemy of the Avengers. Early Years Loki himself was not a member of the Asgardians, but was actually the son of Laufey, the deceased monarch of the Frost Giants, the ancient enemies of the Asgardians. Years ago, while Bor, ruler of Asgard, was battling Frost Giants, he followed a wounded giant to a powerful sorcerer that was waiting for him (who was actually the present day incarnation of Loki in disguise), and knowing he could not match Bor power for power, caught him unawares turning him into snow. Bor's son, Odin, came around just in time to watch the last of him blown away and he begged Odin to find a sorcerer to free him. Years passed, and Odin did not attempt to save his father, instead leading Asgard on his own and following his own dreams. At first, Bor attempted to convince his son to free him and finally, Bor promised Odin that he would bother him no more if he took in the son of a fallen king and raised it as his own. Not a week later, Odin himself led the Asgardians into battle against the Frost Giants and killed Laufey, who was a king, in personal combat. After slaying Laufey, Odin found a small Asgardian-sized child hidden within the primary stronghold of the Frost Giants. The child was Loki and Laufey had kept him hidden from his people due to his shame over his son's small size. Odin took the boy, out of a combination of pity, to appease his father, and because he was the son of a worthy adversary slain in honorable combat and raised him as his son alongside his biological son, Thor, and set the events of his own doom into motion. What Odin never realized was that the Bor who had been torturing him from beyond the grave was actually just an illusion created by the present-day Loki. Resentment Throughout their childhood and into adolescence, Loki was resentful of the differences in which he and Thor were treated by the citizens of Asgard. The Asgardians valued great strength, tenacity, and bravery in battle above all things and Loki was clearly inferior to his foster brother Thor in these areas. However, Loki's gifts lay in other areas, most notably sorcery. Loki possessed a natural affinity to command great magical forces and hoped to somehow use these powers to become the most powerful god in all of Asgard and to destroy Thor. As Loki grew to adulthood, his natural talent for causing mischief would manifest itself and earned himself a nickname as the God of Mischief. However, instead of playing harmless pranks, his deeds grew steadily more malicious and his lust for both power and revenge was apparent to all those around him. In time, his nickname grew from being a playful and mischievous trickster god to the "God of Evil". Over the centuries, Loki would try to seize Asgard and to destroy Thor on many occasions. Odin, who had long tolerated Loki's attempts, magically imprisoned Loki within a tree. Loki would eventually free himself from his prison and his thirst for power and vengeance became even more consuming than it had ever been, if that were even possible. During the late 1940's Loki appeared to have been exiled from Asgard and had aligned himself with several dwarfs, trolls, and demons named after Olympian Gods. During that period he also stalked Venus for a time. Loki and Thor would clash more and more times, sometimes with Loki confronting Thor directly and sometimes using various pawns in order to achieve his ends. Among Loki's more well known henchmen was the human criminal Carl "The Crusher" Creel, whom Loki would use his sorcery to transform into the superhuman criminal known as The Absorbing Man, who himself would prove to be a formidable adversary to Thor over the years. Loki would even go so far as to attempt to turn Odin against Thor and to steal Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjölnir, all of which failed. Loki's schemes would eventually come to include Earth itself and these schemes would often draw some of Earth's superhuman heroes to defend Earth and, often, Asgard itself. Loki was able to manipulate the Hulk into wreaking havoc and, accidentally, would lead to the formation of the Avengers. To make matters worse, Thor would be one of the founding members of the superhuman team and often found himself undone by them, many times, even when it seemed that his goals were within his grasp. However, despite Loki's loathing for Thor and Odin, Loki would help to defend Asgard from destruction from Surtur and his fire demons. However, this was only because Surtur's goal was to destroy Asgard and Loki sought only to rule it. Ragnarok It has been prophesied that Loki will lead Asgard's enemies into the "Eternal Realm" and aid them in destroying it in a final conflict known as Ragnarök, or sometimes referred to as "The Twilight of the Gods". Loki fulfilled the prophecy of leading the enemies of Asgard against the Asgardians. This battle consumed all who participated in it and it was revealed that the cycle of the birth, lives, and death of the Asgardians was a continuing cycle presided over by beings known only as "Those Who Sit Above". Thor, was able to put an end to this continuing cycle. All Asgardians perished in this last Ragnarok except for Thor who would disappear into a deep sleep. But this time "Those Who Sit Above in Shadow" followed them in death and were unable to revive them. Whether the Asgardians will receive a reincarnation after this final battle is uncertain. As a Woman After Thor returned, he started a quest to find the other Asgardians. After finding Heimdall and the Warriors Three he stepped up the search. Heimdall guided him to the southwest where dozens of humans were being jailed by the Destroyer. Loki had collected all of his former Asgardian allies, and Thor fell for the trap, restoring them all to their full power. Loki himself had been reborn as a female. She claimed to have no more plans now that Ragnarök was over. Time would tell if her schemes to rule had been truly set aside. Having told Balder that she would never lie again, Loki proceeded to win the Asgardians' trust by revealing that he, like Thor, was a son of Odin. Balder didn't believe, but once he was told it was true by Thor himself, he had come to think of Loki as a trustworthy confidant. During the Skrull invasion, she managed to goad a mob of Asgardians into thinking that Beta Ray Bill was a Skrull impostor. Dark Reign Loki joined Norman Osborn's dark Illuminati. She traveled to the past to ensure Bor, father of Odin and first king of Asgard, perished in battle against the Frost Giants. In the present day Loki revived Bor in New York City, but placed a spell on him to mistake everything around him as an enemy, therefore attacking everything in sight. Further aggrieved by the belief his son's failure to resurrect him could only mean he was killed in battle, when Thor arrives on the scene, Loki's enchantment caused Bor to see Thor as a monster. Sensing Odin's power inside what he saw as a demon, Bor attacked Thor, attempting to avenge his son. While Thor and Bor fought Loki made Balder aware of Bor's identity and the two rushed to New York to stop Thor from killing him (Thor never met Bor until now and is unaware of his identity). They arrived too late, as Thor was forced to kill Bor for fear of the entire planet being destroyed in the wake of their battle. In the aftermath of the battle, Loki reminded Balder the resurrected Bor was technically the king of Asgard when Thor killed him and the punishment for killing the king was banishment from Asgard, Balder was forced to agree. After Thor's banishment, Loki mentioned to some disgruntled Asgardians he made arrangements to have all Asgardians, but not Asgard itself, moved to Latveria at the invitation of Doctor Doom.Thor #600 Loki attended a dinner hosted by Doctor Doom along with Balder to secure a new home for the Asgardians in Latveria. She was caught off guard by Balder's insistence that since they were leaving Asgard, Thor should have been allowed to rejoin them. Loki was able to calm Balder before he offended Doom too much. She later appeared before Blake and Thor to tell them that she would be returning to her male form shortly and that he had "just now" come to the realization that his body was meant for Sif. Loki explained that, after Ragnarok, when the Asgardians were being placed into human hosts Sif's soul was placed into a dying human. When Thor sent out the call for the Asgardians to return, Sif's host was too weak to hear the call. When Thor mass-summoned the Asgardians, Sif's body was created but her soul could not be placed into it, so the body went looking for a soul with no body and found Loki. Loki claimed the transfer from his female form to his male form would probably kill Sif's host and she urged Blake and Thor to find Sif and say goodbye.Thor #601 Following the Hood's depowerment at the hands of Doctor Strange, Brother Voodoo, and the Son of Satan, Loki offers the Hood a second chance.New Avengers #54 She presents to him the Norn Stones, a bunch of Asgardian artifacts she previously used, to grant him back his powers. Mighty Avengers Loki took on the form of the Scarlet Witch in her astral form and recruited a team of Avengers to face the Elder God Chthon.Mighty Avengers #21 The Avengers, unaware of Loki's trick, followed this false "Wanda's" instructions.Mighty Avengers #21-23 Her goal in using these Avengers was to throw Norman Osborn off balance. Loki intended to put "cracks in Osborn's armor" and gradually "widen" these cracks through the Mighty Avengers. Pietro Maximoff, though desiring to see and converse with his sister, joined the Mighty Avengers after he raced around the world searching for her.Mighty Avengers #24 However, Loki began to see that Pietro and Cassie were becoming a problem in her plans, as they genuinely believed her to be Wanda; for the latter, was for revenge for the death of her father. She dealt with the former by cutting off communications while Pietro and U.S. Agent were in Tibet, hoping that he would die due to the main emergency he was calling about. Cassie caught her in the act and attempted to warn the others but Loki cast a spell that prevented her from saying bad things about "Wanda". Then, she appeared before Henry Pym, calling himself the Wasp, to convince him to expel Cassie from the team; Pym was about giving second chances ever since their escape with the Fantastic Four. Loki soon had enough of Cassie when she tricks the Young Avengers into summoning the "Scarlet Witch" to the Infinite Avengers Mansion, using Wiccan's magic, which caused Loki's disguise to appear. However, Clint Barton also did a sneak attack and by kissing Loki, he could tell that she was not Wanda. Wiccan then chanted a spell to reveal Loki's deception, forcing her to erect wards to prevent they from summoning her again, thus canceling out the spell on Cassie. Ages of Thunder Asgard was under attack by the Frost Giants. All the gods were at battle as if it was soon to be the end of Asgard. In the end it was Thor standing strong with his lightning winning the battle for Asgard. Thor brought down a mighty giant who fell and destroyed a giant wall of Asgard which stood as long as anyone could remember. The wall was ruined but it was spring once again. Yggdrasill grew golden apples once again for the Asgardians to feast on. It was only Enchantress who had the power to pick the apples from the great tree. All of the gods gained wisdom and youth from eating the apples in all their meals. All that is, except for the mighty Thor. Heimdall then spots a man walking towards Asgard. The man was a mason who offered Odin to fix his great wall which had been destroyed in their war against the Frost Giants. The mason said he'd be able to fix the wall in a year if you could have one thing. He wanted neither riches or power, only the Enchantress herself. Loki talked to Odin and they decided to accept his offer to rebuild their wall. However, they told him that he'd have six months and not a year to do so. They all agreed as the gods deemed it as an impossible task for the man. However, the man was building at an alarming rate which would eventually make him finish the wall in less than six months. This greatly angered Odin and he told Loki to fix their problem or else he'd bind him to stone forever. Loki then shapeshifted into a mare in order to distract the man's steed. All night, Loki distracted the steed and in the morning, the man wasn't able to finish the wall. Odin told the man that he couldn't complete the task but the man knew that it was Loki who was distracting his steed and who made him fail in his task. The man began to say that he'd kill them all and then the man showed his true form. He was actual a shapeshifting Frost Giant who was ready to damn the Asgardians. As he fought Loki and Odin, Thor returned from his recent journey and killed the Giant by throwing Mjolnir at him. He then ordered Loki to clean up his mess. He walked through Asgard, carrying with him the heads of several Frost Giants. Loki was later banished from Asgard for yet another attempt of trickery. Loki wandered though Asgard with no food or direction. It seemed as if he'd been traveling in the snow for thousands of years. One day, an eagle came up to him and asked him questions. The eagle laughed at Loki, seeing how weak and desperate he was. The eagle offered Loki a deal. He'd give him food if he could bring him his desire, Enchantress. Loki then talked to Enchantress and fooled her after saying he found golden apples which she could pick. They climbed to the top of the snowy mountain where a Frost Giant who was actually the eagle, was waiting for them. The Giant then took Enchantress with him to be her queen. The Asgardians then began to starve as there was nobody who could pick the golden apples from the tree. Odin then found out that it was all Loki's fault and he forced Loki to go and save Enchantress from the Frost Giant. Loki then went back to the lair of the Frost Giant. He found Enchantress laying there tied up while the Frost giant was sleeping. He sneaked her out but the Frost Giant woke up and discovered that she was missing. The Frost Giant eventually caught up to the two Asgardians and he took hold of them. There was nobody to rescue the two from the hands of the Frost Giant. But Thor came flying from the sky and he flew straight through and killed the Frost Giant. Enchantress was then returned to Asgard and the gods could all feast once again. Trickster Reborn Loki manipulated Norman Osborn into leading his Avengers and H.A.M.M.E.R. into attacking Asgard, intent on having it returned to its proper place in the Nine Realms. However, he underestimated the destructive power of the Sentry, who had given into the whispers of his Void persona. When Steve Rogers lead the true Avengers in defense of Asgard, Osborn had the Void unleash his power in full and Asgard was destroyed. Seeing that his plans had gone farther than he had intended, he used the Norn Stones to help the Avengers against the Void and was killed by it in front of a shocked Thor. "I'm sorry, brother" were his last words. Before dying, Loki laid schemes to break free fom the chains of destiny, and be reborn as a completely new Kid Loki. However, when he met his end at the hands of the Void, he died forever, and any new Loki would never be the original Loki. Powers and Abilities Powers Despite being a member of the Frost Giants, Loki possesses similar attributes to those possessed by the Asgardians. Sorcery:'''Loki has the ability to generate and control a great quantity of mystical abilities for a variety of purposes, of which can be used to further enhance or augment his physical diagram, like his speed, strength, and stamina, but only temporarily. Being a telekinetic, Loki can influence the movement of objects and people with his mind, and as such, this power proves to be devastating and chaotic in nature. His known abilities include the ability to fire powerful beams of concussive force, generate highly durable force fields, bestow superhuman attributes to living beings or inanimate objects, or teleport across dimensions. He can also bring inanimate objects to life, or mystically imbue objects or beings with specific but temporary powers. He has, for example, augmented the might of human criminals as the Cobra and Sandu. These magical effects remain only for as long as he maintains the spell that created them. Loki’s power has been said by the Silver Surfer during their early encounters as sufficient to “decimate a planet,” and according to Dormammu, Loki’s magic nearly rivals that of his own. '''Regenerative Healing Factor: Like all Asgardians, Loki, although he is inhumanly durable, at least by human standards, can still obtain injury, also like all Asgardians, his metabolism enables him to rapidly regenerate damaged tissue much faster and more extensively than a human being. However, through the use of his sorcery, Loki's ability to heal himself is far above that of other Asgardians. His magical energies are so imbued into his body that he can reattach severed limbs and, while still a male, even reattached his own head at least once. Superhuman Strength: Loki, without the aid of anything, through his own biology, possesses superhuman strength that is substantially superior to that of an average Asgardian female or male. In fact, Loki is currently stronger now than he was while male. He possesses sufficient physical strength to lift up to 50 tonsOHOTMU:Thor & Hercules - Encyclopedia Mythologica . It is possible, however, that she can further increase his strength through mystical enchantment on a temporary basis. While as a male Loki was still superhumanly strong as an average Asgardian male, he was strong enough to lift 30 tons , however his strength could be increased through mystical enchantment also. Superhuman Stamina: Loki's Frost Giant metabolism grants him superhuman levels of physical stamina in practically all activities. He can exert himself at peak capacity for about 24 hours before fatigue begins to impair him. However, much like his physical strength and durability, Loki can temporarily augment his stamina through magical means. Superhumanly Dense Tissue: Like all Asgardians, Loki's bodily tissues have roughly 3 times the density of the same tissues in a human being. While he has the looks and physical proportions of a much smaller person, the increased density of his body actually makes him several hundred pounds heavier than he appears. This increased density also contributes to his superhuman strength to a limited degree. Superhuman Durability: The tissues of Loki's body are superhumanly durable and are roughly equal to those possessed by the average Asgardian male. However, at times, Loki had imbued himself with magical abilities that enable him to withstand injuries that would prove fatal to another Asgardian. He is able to withstand high caliber bullets, falls from great heights, powerful impact forces, exposure to temperature extremes and powerful energy blasts without being injured. Superhuman Longevity: Like all Asgardians, Loki ages at a far slower rate than humans. However, unlike some other god pantheons like the Olympians, who stop aging completely at a certain point, Loki isn't fully immune to aging. Although he has recently been "reborn", he still has his memories of his previous life. While he is several millenia old, at least, he has the appearance and vitality of a young Asgardian man in his physical prime. Loki is immune to the effects of all known Earthly diseases and infections. Sorcery: Loki has the ability to generate and control a great quantity of mystical abilities for a variety of purposes, of which can be used to further enhance or augment his physical diagram, like his speed, strength, and stamina, but only temporarily. His magical abilities are equal to Karnilla, the most skilled sorceress in the Asgardian dimension. Being a telekinetic, Loki can influence the movement of objects and people with his mind, and as such, this power proves to be devastating and chaotic in nature. His known abilities include the ability to fire powerful beams of concussive force, generate highly durable force fields, bestow superhuman attributes to living beings or inanimate objects, or teleport himself or others across dimensions. He can also bring inanimate objects to life, or mystically imbue objects or beings with specific but temporary powers. He has, for example, augmented the might of human criminals as the Cobra and Sandu. These magical effects remain only for as long as he maintains the spell that created them. Loki has also once cursed Deadpool with an indestructible Tom Cruise's face, which proved to be powerful enough to withstand being run over by a train and direct contact with a nuclear rod without receiving a single scratch. He has also once used his magic to turn Invisible Woman's psionic shields against herself. Loki’s power has been said by the Silver Surfer during their early encounters as sufficient to "decimate a planet". *'Psionics:' Loki has demonstrated powerful psionic capabilities, the full limits of which aren't known. He has demonstrated the ability to project his thoughts telepathically across great distances as well as potent hypnotic capabilities. He is able to communicate with beings telepathically, though his ability to do so is greater with beings that serve him. *'Shape-shifting:' Like a number of gods or goddesses, Loki possesses highly developed shape-shifting capabilities. He is able to adopt almost any form imaginable whether it be animals, other humanoid beings, or even inanimate objects. The thought has been raised that his current form is merely a shape Loki has decided to remain in. Despite this well-known ability of Loki's, he has commented to himself, as he struggled to escape from Dormammu's mystic cage, that this is his "most soul-draining" power, apparently meaning it is more taxing than his other magical abilities. He has become such animals such as a snake, eagle, mouse and bee, gaining the basic natural abilities inherent in each form. While he can take on the likeness of another god, giant or human, he will not necessarily gain the special physical or mental powers of the being he imitates. Loki can also transform external objects into other forms and substances by magic; for instance, he has turned clouds into dragons. Abilities *'Intelligence:' Loki has a genius level intellect and possesses a great deal of knowledge of the mystic arts. He is also extremely cunning and skilled, an expert battle strategist, and highly skilled and charismatic manipulator, which is evident by the ease how Loki repeatedly succeeded to regain the trust of his fellow Asgardians, despite his numerous crimes. *'Allspeak:' Thanks to the Allspeak Loki can communicate in all of the languages of the Nine Realms, Earth's dialects, and various alien languages. *'Skilled Combatant:' Loki is a formidable combatant in his own right, particularly as a swordsman or in the use of his various energy manipulative powers in combat situations, enough to hold his own against Thor on numerous occasions and beat the Dìsir into (literal) submission. Equipment Loki occasionally employs certain mystical power objects, such as the Norn Stones rare Asgardian herbs, to augment his own magical powers. These objects or substances are generally used to enhance his immediate personal strength or abilities, or to create a permanent mystical transformation, such as that which gave the Absorbing Man his power. He once used the mystical sword of Surtur along with various Asgardian equipment to transform Thor into a frog while Loki was in Asgard and Thor was on Earth. The destruction of the engine drawing power from the sword resulted in Thor regaining his true form. *'Weapons:' A magic sword, known in Norse mythology as Laevateinn, which means "wounding wand". Weaknesses *'Magic limitations:' Loki's powers are believed to at least be slightly weaker on Midgard than on Asgard, as his birth was not of Gaea, and even Odin's magic was on the wane on Earth. Also, while apparently possessing some extrasensory abilities that resemble psionic powers, Loki can not directly read the minds of other beings, nor can he control their actions. *'Superiority inferiority complex:' Loki's ambition has proven to be his greatest flaw, as his passionate hatred of Thor, lust for power, and his tendency to alienate himself through his ignoble actions greatly impedes his ability to bring his well laid plans to fruition. Also, as noticed by Apocalypse, Loki has poor understanding of human nature, which leads him to severely underestimate his mortals (earthly) opponent's, resulting into humiliating defeat. Trivia *Loki was created by Don Rico, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. *Loki's birthday is on December 17. References Category:Comic Book Characters Category:Gods Category:Male Category:Characters Category:Frost Giants